Changing man: Rodgers has been tinkering with his defence for months (Image: Action Images)

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

Brendan Rodgers has admitted Liverpool's defensive woes are down to the difficulty in finding a leader to replace Jamie Carragher.

Anfield legend Carragher - who proudly possessed one of the loudest voices in football - retired at the end of last season, and with his departure went the organisational skills which made him so valuable to the team.

In recent weeks, a lack of an obvious successor to lead the back line has been exposed, with the Reds conceding three poor goals at Everton and then again at Hull , to drop vital points.

Rodgers has tried different combinations of his four front-line centre-halves - Daniel Agger, Kolo Toure, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho - but with no lasting success.

"The last couple of games, we were disappointed with the goals and obviously we made mistakes. It has been the difficulty for us, getting that balance, the partnership that could cope with all types of strikers," he explained.

"There has been lots of change, and some of that has been down to me, knowing every game is an absolute cup final for us - I felt at times I needed to change defenders to get a result.

"But I know this is an important area of the team and is something I need to look at in order to get consistency we had in the second half of the season with Jamie Carragher."

Summer signing Toure did well at the start of the season alongside Agger, but injury disrupted their partnership, and Rodgers was forced to use a trio of centre-halves to cover.

(Image: Getty)

Fellow new boy Sakho, a £17million buy from Paris Saint-Germain, is still coming to terms with the physical demands of the Premier League, while Agger has an obvious problem in dealing with aerial threats at set-pieces.

Now Rodgers will look closely at that pair after the errors committed by Toure and Skrtel in Sunday's loss to Hull, to see if he can produce a more settled combination... and finally replace Carra's massive influence.

"Sakho came in at a time when we went to a back three and did reasonably well, so he's working very hard to come into the starting line-up," the Northern Irishman explained.

"He's a good player, a French international, and if he is working well enough in training and the team is not doing so well, It could open up the door for him.

"With Daniel, I just felt we have struggled at times against big physical opponents and Toure has obviously coped well with that type of player.

"And obviously Skrtel has been excellent since coming in, so it was simply a tactical decision - but I know Daniel's quality.

"The first thing you have to do as a centre-half is defend, the first attribute isn't about the ball. It is to defend, and when you can do that, you then look to build the game from there."

Agger may well return against Norwich, but Toure is struggling with a hip problem, so it could be that Sakho gets another chance.

Midfielder Philippe Couinho has recovered from an ankle problem and should return to the starting line-up.